Tag: Renee Broke

“Ohmigosh, Renee! You’re alive! You’ve been out of school for, like, what? A week?”

“Yep, I’m alive. I probably have years worth of homework to make up, don’t I?”

“Oh, not much, really, enough to make up in a few days as long as you’re really feeling better. I don’t know how long pneumonia lasts, but you’re better now still, right?”

“Oh, I’m definitely feeling a lot better.”

“That’s great news!”

“I do have some bad news, though. I casually asked Isabelle what she’d do if her dads stopped her from seeing you, and she went on about how her love ‘wouldn’t die so easily.’”

“Yeesh, but at least I don’t need to go through the trouble of making a fool of myself. Like you said your uncles don’t care much for polka music, and I can’t play the accordion, nor do I know the difference between polka and oompah music.”

“I… didn’t know there was a difference, to be honest.”

“Or how you said your uncle Beau’s super allergic to cats, and Isabelle would know I’m lying if I said I had a cat, since, well, I kinda already told her Teddy’s so spoiled he wouldn’t share his space with any other animal ever.”

“Wow, you… really thought this disapproval thing through, didn’t you?”

“Uh-huh!”

“Hey, here’s an idea: why not just tell her you don’t like her?”

“But that’ll hurt her feelings!”

“What is this? Second grade?”

“Mom… it hurts.”

“Why didn’t you tell us what was going on? Your sister said this has been since yesterday.”

“Because I thought you would get mad at me for using the roll bandages… I thought they’d help me.”

“We’re not mad, dear. Your father and I have been worried about you. Connor and Cait, too.”

“Connor told you?”

“No, Mrs. Grunt did. Connor was so worried he had a hard time focusing, she told me.”

“Why was everyone so worried about me?”

“Because if you kept this up, you could get really hurt or sick. But I’m guessing you learned that on your own, didn’t you?”

“Yeah…”

“There’s not much to do now but rest, I suppose. Your father and I will be home all day, so let us know if you need anything, alright?”

“Okay.”

“Watcher, it’s so damn hot. Breathing hurts. Maybe I should take this off…”

“… But… If I take it off, I’m gonna have to look at my boobs until I’m probably 30!”

“But it hurts… It’d be a good time for a shoulder angel and devil right about now.”

*cough**cough*

“Reneeeeeeeee? Are you smoking? Everyone can hear you coughing and I’ve always wanted to try-”

“Cait don’t come i-”

“Ummm… What happened to your chest and why do you look like you’re about to die?”

“I told you not to come in here! J-Just… Just don’t tell mom or dad, okay?”

“Hmmmmm….”

“Pleeeeaaaaase?”

“How abooooouuuut… No.”

“What!? Why not?”

“Because you could, like, end up in the hospital!”

“But what about my chest?”

“Wait, that’s what this rib-cage crushing is about?”

“Well, duh.”

“Okay, think about it like this. You’re giving up breathing to get rid of your boobs, right?”

“Not exactly, but…”

“Okay, would you or would you not spend a day with, like, 50 cats if it meant your boobs disappearing.”

“Eeeuuughh… Oh, Watcher, no! I don’t wanna die!”

“Then take the bandages off.”

“One o’clock at last! I can’t wait to get home and bake cookies with mom and– Renee?”

“Renee, you don’t look so good.”

“Hah… I’m fine. Really. Just need to catch my breath.”

“I don’t think that wrap thing was a good idea, Did you tell your mom you were doing this?”

“No, she’d kill me.”

“But you don’t look well at all. Please, just, tell your mom, or someone! You’re my best friend. I’ve never done what you’re doing right now, but I don’t think this pain is worth it. You can barely breathe, for goodness sake!”

“Connor, I don’t… I don’t know what I’m gonna do.”

“Please take care of yourself. Pretty please?”

‘I’ve started taking better care of myself ever since realizing exactly what the hell is wrong with me. But I still hate showers…’

‘What I’ve learned is it’s usually best to keep my eyes closed.’

‘Sometimes I expect to see something different when I finally open them. I dunno why. It’s kinda dumb to get my hopes up like that, isn’t it?’

‘I tried doing what they do in movies, but I guess it wasn’t tight enough. If mom asks where the bandage rolls went, I could be toast! I can’t use too much.’

‘There. Almost like a male surfer model. Kinda hurts, but it shouldn’t be too bad, right?’

“It was great talking with you, Mr. Thomas.”

“Any time! I’m gonna recommend to your mother a Dr. Pascal Curious, but feel free to suggest him too, only if you feel comfortable, that is. He’s a trained professional who works at the hospital downtown, and he helped me out a lot when I was younger. He knows a lot more answers than most people do, even more than me, heheh.”

“That sounds neat! Thanks!”

“So you mean this dysphoria thing, it can go unnoticed? For years?”

“Uh-huh. Dysphoria doesn’t care how long it hides, just as long as it can make you feel like garbage, you know?”

“But I want to know… Why me? Why do I have to be the one to feel like this? It doesn’t seem fair. It just… It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

“That, I’m afraid, is gonna take a long time for anyone to find out.”

“… And so my mom just keeps telling me about kids who knew what was going on with them from the start, but I didn’t know a thing. How was I supposed to know, though? I mean, I felt something was off, but I just thought it was because I was ugly and I hated everyone.”

“I just… I just wonder if maybe I’m crazy or something. I felt worse after becoming a teen, but I really did think I was going to get better. But I mean, I wore dresses when my mom told me to, so I guess… I don’t know.”

“Hey, you don’t have to have known right away. When we’re born, no one comes into the room to tell us the meaning behind everything we’ll feel. Some people just figure things out faster than others. It’s not exclusive to dysphoria, either, sometimes it takes more time to notice things like depression, or heck, even the flu.”

“Are you serious? But my mom said…”

“My mom said a lot of things, too. Some things are just better to learn ourselves.”

“That makes sense. Wow.”